It is a fantastic achievement for the Mother City to get itself into this position. As recently as mid-January, projections for day zero were apocalyptically close. At one point, the taps were due to be shut off on 12 April. To be told that the city won’t experience a day zero until at least 2019 is a minor miracle.

What did Mmusi Maimane say about day zero?

Here’s how Maimane delivered the news from his press conference in Gardens on Tuesday afternoon:

“If we continue consuming water at current levels, and we receive decent winter rainfall this year, Day Zero will not occur in 2018. This means the taps will stay open in 2018.”

His projection is solely reliant on Capetonians applying themselves as diligently as ever before. Yesterday may have seemed like a reward for the citizens. In reality, it was an announcement that simply says “keep calm and carry on.”

Is day zero still a threat to Cape Town?

The threat of drought is far from over. In fact, should Cape Town slip back into it’s old habits, then yesterday’s announcement would actually count for very little.

We spoke to Xanthea Limberg. She is the Mother City’s Water Resilience Advisory Committee Chairperson and a long-serving Mayco member. Limberg told us that complacency could undo all the hard work of the city so far.

“If the city’s consumption increases to 600 million litres per day or above, then there’s still a risk that day zero will be moved forward. This is why we’re emphasising the importance of ongoing savings until we have a better sense of rainfall for the season.”

Even though we have successfully pushed day zero back week on week, we have continued to communicate the importance of water saving efforts, as this will impact the day zero date.”

Xanthea couldn’t guarantee a date when the restrictions would be lifted. She said that they can only start making those type of predictions during the rainfall season in winter, as new water augmentation schemes are dependent on precipitation:

“We don’t want to permanently have level 6B in place, but we need to base our decisions to reduce restrictions on all the variables, so we don’t act irresponsibly.”

Capetonians vs Day Zero FC

Thanks to record-low consumption rates, Cape Town has managed to chalk up another victory in the fight against day zero. But this is no “winner-takes-all” scenario. No, it’s more like a league campaign.

One win doesn’t mean you’ve actually won the battle. You have to keep winning until your opponents cannot catch you. That’s the mentality Cape Town needs.

By all means, take the three points that come with pushing day zero back to 2019. But remember, you’ve got a game this week and it’s very easy to let a lead slip. Keep pushing, keep winning, and keep saving every last drop of water.